Not so Hidden
by FALLING-ANGEL24
Summary: I had watched him for years. We went to High School together, though I knew him yet he didn't know me. I tried so hard to stay in the background, colorless. I just wanted to watch my muse in silent admiration and publish my manga. We weren't suppose to meet, that was my goal. He wasn't suppose to know I exist. But it happened and now our lives are intertwined.(slowburn. ShizuoxOC)


**Updated: 13, Nov 2015 **

Chapter 1:

** Life is never perfect. **

A young, American girl, about the age of 15, sat in the back of her new class in her new high school, Raira Academy that was in her new country, Japan. She had moved to Ikebukuro specifically because of a job offer her mother had received. The poor American teen was a chubby girl standing at five feet, three inches with long ashen blonde hair and grey eyes. She wore her school uniform that stretched against her large chest that seemed to be bigger than her chubby stomach. Her face was blemished with acne, which she refused to cover up with any sort of cosmetics.

**Sure it has ups and downs.**

She watched her Japanese classmates mingle, their words turning to mush in her brain as she tried to translate in her head. Some of the words they spoke were ones that she never heard of and that made her even more nervous. Will they think poorly of her for not speaking the language perfectly?

The girl sighed, and looked down at the drawing pad on her desk. She resisted the urge to draw the whole class, waiting for the 20 minutes of free time to arrive. On the drawing pad, the current page looked to be a rough storyboard for a comic. She picked up her pencil and continued with the quick sketches until half way through the process she considered this page obsolete and turned to a fresh, clean page. The girl burned holes into the crisp page as she tried to come up with something to draw. Realization donned on her and she slumped in the chair.

'_I can't believe I have an artist block!_' she thought, with tears streaming down her face in a comical way.  
"This fucking sucks…" she mumbled in English to herself. This day had not started off so well for her.

**But there are some things that change a person forever in the most positive ways.**

"Hey, look!" shouted out a random boy. The girl lifted her head to see her classmates gather around the windows that looked out to the courtyard. The American blinked, leaning towards the window by her seat to see what was happening. Down below there seemed to be an upperclassman surrounded by a large group of other students.

'_It's like a Shonen manga…_' the girl thought in awe as she stood up to get a closer look. The only thing that stood out about the upperclassman was his blonde hair.

"Is he from another country, like me?" she asked herself and hope bubbled up inside. This could be someone that she could call a friend. The boy just stood there, the group surrounding him. Her face drew closer to the window in anticipation. There was no way that one person could take on all of those people. She looked to her classmates and saw how they were just watching, like her.

"A-Ano…" she began with a stutter, "No one help?" she asked in choppy Japanese. Some girls looked at her with confused looks and the American thought that she said something wrong for a second until one of them spoke up.

"Help Heiwajima Shizuo? No way, he's a kaibutsu," the girl closest to the window said. There was a silence as the American looked at her with a confused look.  
'_The fuck is a kaibutsu?_' the American thought. There was a loud crash, and the females looked out to see the blonde, who was now known as Shizuo, rip off one of the metal rods that was connected to the fence and began beating the offenders.

**And on that very day…**

The American was shocked at first as she watched the blonde male and his inhuman strength, then it melted into fear. There was no way someone like that was human. Thoughts swirled in her head as her heart pounded and she was confused as to why she couldn't look away. It was like her eyes were glued to that one boy and no one else. As she pondered on that one thought, her fear began to dissipate and soon there was that spark of curiosity that quickly turned into flame. Watching this boy began to seem so much like a dream or an anime. In that moment, it was like a light had been turned on in her head and the spark in her eyes came to life. And just like that, a story was formed. The girl quickly went back to her desk like a madwoman and began to dig into her desk to find a notebook.

"Ah! Harisu-san!" exclaimed a student close to her, looking at the American with caution.  
"It's Harris," said the American automatically in English, as she scribbled furiously onto a blank page of her notebook. The words began in Kanji, but in the girl's haste she began to write in English. A smile was on her face as the page filled with words. She finally had a breakthrough from her artist block. Her classmates looked at the foreigner in confusion, but then came to the conclusion that this is what all American's must be like and shrugged it off to let her be.

When the girl finished writing a whole page front and back she put her pencil down and looked at her work. She had never made such a good story before. It seemed to be the perfect romance idea. The girl smiled and looked at the window where she last saw this Shizuo person. An unknown warmth built up in her chest and a smile graced her lips. At that moment this girl knew that Shizuo was special in more ways than one.

"My muse…" the girl mumbled under her breath.

**Shizuo Heiwajima changed my life in the most positive ways. I, Katie Harris, will make the best romance manga, because of him.**

7 Years Later:

My high school years were spent watching Shizuo Heiwajima, in a totally non-stalker way of course. Its not like I was in love with him, he was my muse after all. He always gave me inspiration, that's all. I shook my head, feeling the blood rush to my face. It would be too distracting to think of my muse right now. I looked around at what seemed to be the colorless people around me and wondered if I was like this, colorless. It would make sense to be, though I have been trying to blend into the background of Ikebukuro since I wanted to publish my shoujo manga. Not much has really changed about me since my high school days. I wear cosmetics now to cover my still blemished face and I am still short. My hair was chopped off right after I graduated high school and I maintained it into a short, shaggy bob. I became more confident with my slightly pudgy body. Well, most of the time I feel confident. I mean, hell, I think I look pretty damn sexy right now, at least. I was wearing my favorite pair of high-waisted, dark blue jeans that had a double row of three buttons, with my one shoulder, floral patterned blouse that was tucked into the jeans. I also wore my new trendy dark beige suede high heel boots. It was the perfect outfit to wear as I made my way to a publisher's office for my manga, currently in my large tote bag carrying all my art necessities. No one wanted to give my manga a chance so far and it bummed me out.  
"If this doesn't work out, I'll head over to Russia's Sushi to cheer me up," I rambled to myself in English, drooling over sushi in my head. As I walked down the busy sidewalk, I would twirl and sing 'sushi~ sushi~' in Japanese. I almost bumped into two teen boys in mid twirl.  
"Sorry!" I called out and continued on my way.

The one with short, black hair and blue eyes blinked and watched me go as his blonde companion talked to him. I passed by Simon handing out flyers.  
"Ah! Miss Katie!" Simon exclaimed as he saw me. I stopped and smiled up at him.  
"Well, hello, Dear Simon~" I greeted with a playful bow, "How are you on this lovely night?" I looked up at him. He gave out a hearty laugh and handed me a flyer.  
"You come for sushi, yes? Sushi good. I give my best customer discount," he said and I took the flyer from him, putting it in my bag.  
"Well," I began, drawing out the 'e' "I have to stop by the office first but I will definitely come back for some dinner." I grinned at him and he beamed in joy.  
"Good, good! I hold you up on word," he told me and I nodded. I began to walk away.  
"Got to bounce! See you later!" I gave a two-finger salute and went on my way. I sadly did not get too far because the loud war cry of the familiar strongest man in Ikebukuro followed by the sound of a large crash, brought me to a stop. I felt compelled to run back to see him in that angry state but I knew that I had to go to the publishers office.

"God dammit," I growled out, "Either go see the wonderful bartender that could easily toss a vending machine," I looked at the palm of my left hand, "Or go get my life's work published and start my dream of making the best romance manga out there," I looked at my right palm. I shifted my hands like weights in contemplation. I whined and finally chose to continue on my way.

"I might get to see him tomorrow, I guess," I said to myself, sighing.

I sat in front of the publisher's desk, biting my nails out of a nervous habit, as he read my final draft. My left leg bounced in anticipation and my stomach churned with nausea. Did he like it? Did he hate it? I thought the story was good. I just want someone to give me a chance. I winced as I bit off more than my nail and looked at my thumb to see it bleeding now. Great. I frowned and pressed the wound to my jeans to stop the bleeding and looked up at the publisher. It seems that he was halfway through the manga.

'_I hope he likes my favorite part,_' I thought, smiling as I pictured my favorite scene in my head when the characters first meet each other face to face. I had worked hard on that scene and it became my favorite through all of my hard work. I was distracted with my own daydream when I heard the man clear his throat. I looked up to see him holding the closed manga, looking right at me.

"So, Miss," he looked at the cover, "Tanaka Ichigo?" he looked at me and I grinned.  
"Well," I began with embarrassment and rubbed the back of my neck with my non-bleeding hand, "I'm just using that as a pen name, I don't want to give out my personal information," I explained with a sheepish grin. His gaze was piercing through his glasses and I felt like his stare would kill me when suddenly his whole demeanor changed into one of bright lights and flowers, which threw me completely off guard.  
"Your story is one of the most unique ones that I have seen in recent years, and I must say, your art is superb! I would happily have my company publish your manga and have you work full time for us," He said with a smile. I almost couldn't comprehend what was happening and it took me a few heartbeats to answer him.  
"Ah…Ah! Thank you so much!" I stood from my chair and bowed to him repeatedly, "You have no idea how much joy I am feeling right now!" I felt my eyes burn with unshed tears of joy. I couldn't calm my rapidly beating heart. The warmth that I usually got when observing Shizuo blossomed in my chest and after so many years I finally had a name for this feeling.

It was pure, unadulterated happiness.


End file.
